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Let me tell you a story of gear drives and plowing snow...
Before I got "Big Blue" I used my 108 to plow snow--it's all I had. I can remember one snowfall (actually two) in 1982 I think. I got the Ford in 1983, so it had to be either '81 or '82. Anyway, we got about 15 inches of snow. We live ¼ mile down a lane from the state road, and our driveway is another 600 feet long. So, with the forecast for so much snow, I head out in the blizzard with about 6 or 8 inches down, plowing wide enough so as the next 6-8 inches fell, I had room to push that aside. Had chains on the 108 but no weights. Gravel road and drive. Managed to clear a path to the state road. I was so proud! First tractor, first big snowfall, young buck, I got 'er done.
Then. Another forecast for another 18 inches! The next day! That would make over 30 inches on the ground. IN CENTRAL VIRGINIA!
Faced with that knowledge, I spent the next 6 hours, up and down the lane and drive, pushing everything wider so there would be room for the next blizzard's snow. Again, out in the middle of the snow (every 6 inches or so) pushing the snow off the drive and the lane.
All this time, clutching, shifting, backing, accelerating into the drifts and piles, pushing snow for all that little tractor was worth.
Now, fast forward a couple years to 1987, a massive, 24 inch snowfall. I'm sipping coffee, watching TV with nary a concern. After the last few flakes fell, I donned some warm clothes, clambered out to the stable, started up Big Blue (with fluid in the tires and CHAINS), and simply backed out, pushing snow aside with the 7 foot blade like it was bubble bath suds. Up and down the drive, and lane to the state road, it was, what? 20 min? Heck, not enough fun! So I headed up the lane, plowing the entire 3/4 mile of it, and most of the neighbor's drives as well.
Again, clutching, shifting, with a gear drive. Never had a hydrostatic tractor, didn't know any different.
Now that I've had some experience with a hydro on the orange tractor and these other cubs, I think I'd go for the hydro for pushing snow. So easy to stop, back up, and go forward again, no gear grinding, left leg getting sore, etc.
Even though we do get some snow here in VA from time to time (and those guys in western parts of the state get it a bunch more than us Piedmont dwellers) it's not like you guys up north. It's a novelty--once every 5 years--when we get anything over a foot.
But since I got Big Blue, the mower deck stays on the 108 all winter. He's lonely, I imagine, sometimes, sitting in the garage. Seldom started, and only occasionally addressed. "Hey, little 108, how ya doin' today?" "Let me check your oil for you, maybe put you on the charger for a little while." "What? You want to go out and play? No, it's too cold. Here, let's crank you over and get you fired up for a little bit. Keep that little engine warm now. It's only a couple months 'til the grass will need you again." That green stripe swells a little as I climb up on Blue, hit the starter, and roll out the door, lifting the rear blade to clear the concrete apron. Time to push some gravel, ‘cause we ain't got no snow!
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